


The End of My Days

by Maiden_of_Asgard



Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avenger Loki (Marvel), F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Non-Linear Narrative, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), The Tesseract (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:16:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21687613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiden_of_Asgard/pseuds/Maiden_of_Asgard
Summary: Babysitting a human woman isn't what Loki Laufeyson would typically consider a very appealing task, but when the alternative is house-arrest on Asgard, how can he refuse?Besides, if Stark is correct, there's more to Miss Eliza Williams than meets the eye.
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 151





	The End of My Days

Charred rubble lay all around him, and the sharp, electric smell of spent magic and acrid smoke hung thick in the air. Coughing, he tried to roll to his side, but his joints screamed in protest, and he gave up. Above him, high above the devastated ruins of Stark Tower, it seemed that the sky itself was aflame.

_ Here I am, _ Loki Laufeyson thought, _ at the end of my days. At the end of all things. _

_ At least I tried.  _

~

Loki looked down his nose at the entirely unimpressive mortal girl Stark had pulled up on the screen. The video feed was live, and she shuffled around some sort of shop, spending far too much time examining what seemed to be a large variety of teas. She wore her hair tied up in a bun, large spectacles obscuring much of her face. “That’s the one?”

“That’s the one,” Stark said, and the image zoomed in on her face. “Think you can handle it, Frosty?”

“Of course I can,” Loki replied, offended at the very implication. “She’s just a mortal girl.”

Stark laughed. “Right,” he said. “Good luck.”

~

“You  _ live _ here?” she asked, her eyes wide and full of wonder. “That’s amazing.”

Loki tried to hold back his irritation. “It isn’t all that grand,” he said, “but for Midgard, I suppose it is impressive enough.”

She turned and smiled at him, slightly shy. “Well, it’s the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen. Are you sure I’m supposed to be here? It all seems… surreal.”

“I’m certain,” Loki replied. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she leaned over to peer down at the wide, open atrium several stories below them.  _ What sort of peasant have I been saddled with,  _ he wondered,  _ that she is so overwhelmed by mere buildings? _

She pulled off her striped knit hat, tucking it into her jacket pocket. “So, are you going to be my partner, then? Show me the ropes?”

“Something like that.” 

It didn’t seem that she’d realized who he was, which was perhaps even more baffling. She should be far more wary; most of the humans working for Stark kept a healthy distance, even after months upon months of seeing Loki roaming harmlessly in their midst every single day. A naive little mortal, to be sure, and somehow he’d ended up with the task of keeping her in check.

“They didn’t tell me much,” she said. “The agents, I mean.” Some of her cheer seemed to diminish, and Loki wondered how much of it was a front for her nerves. “They said I can’t even go back to my apartment. Do you think there’s a chance…?”

“S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t fond of me, Miss Williams. If there is anything that you need to retrieve, you’d be better off asking someone else to plead your case for you.”

“Eliza,” she said. “Eliza’s fine. I’m not a very formal person.” They reached the elevator, and she cleared her throat. “I’m used to leaving things behind, anyway.”

_ Finally, something we have in common, _ Loki thought. 

When they stepped into the elevator, she peered up at him, seeming to search his face for some sort of revelation. “Is everything going to be okay, you think?” she asked him. “I’m going to be safe here?”

Loki nodded.

~

He stood by a little coffee-selling cart on the edge of the park, surreptitiously watching the girl over the top of his newspaper. It had been three weeks, and Loki had yet to see anything about her that would merit such interest from Stark. She was, from what he could tell, a perfectly mundane human woman.  _ Elizabeth Williams. _ Even the name, if it was truly her name, was fairly nondescript.

Her apartment was nondescript, as well, and while Loki wasn’t well-versed in Midgardian living spaces, it seemed to him to be very small and cheap, and in an area of town that clearly hadn’t seen any economic prosperity for quite some time. She hadn’t even noticed when he’d let himself in one night and stood over her bed, which he’d found almost disappointing. If she had any idea at all that she was being stalked by a god, she showed no signs of it.

Even then, in the early dawn light, she seemed almost alarmingly carefree as she jogged around the tiny trail ringing the pond that sat half-frozen in the middle of the park, singing silently to whatever music played through the headphones she wore.  _ Completely unaware,  _ Loki thought.  _ I could snatch her away in a moment, and she would not see it coming.  _ It was almost frustrating, and he wondered if Stark had sent him off on a wild-goose chase, just to keep him out of the way of the rest of the Avengers.

Loki’s coffee was bitter, and so was he. 

He called up Stark on his cellular phone, then and there. “There is nothing at all special about Elizabeth Williams,” he said. “If this is some sort of useless side-mission, then—”

“Funny enough,” Stark interrupted, “I was just about to call you. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s on her case, now. They’ll probably be there in an hour or less.”

“They told you this?”

“Of course not.”

Loki looked up, feeling a tiny flicker of consternation when it took him a moment to locate her again. She was making another round of the running trail, passing over a wooden bridge. “What am I to do, then? Retrieve her?”

There was a pause on the other end of the call. “No. Keep an eye on her, make sure S.H.I.E.L.D. plays nice. I’ll see if I can get Fury to send her our way. It’ll be better if it seems like we’re abiding by the rules.”

“Fine,” Loki replied. “What do you expect me to do if they choose to be less than friendly with the girl, then?”

“Get her out of there. We don’t want to risk an incident.”

Loki terminated the call, slipping his phone back into his pocket. The girl had finished her run and begun to stretch, and he knew that she’d soon be heading back to her apartment to get ready for work.  _ This is so terribly undignified, _ he thought with a sigh, but when she headed off down the street, he followed behind her. With any luck, all of this nonsense would be over soon.

~

“I can’t believe I just talked to Jane Foster,” Eliza enthused, leaning back in her chair. “Dr. Jane Foster. Man, I love this place.”

“If you would be so kind as to keep your feet off of my desk—”

“You put your feet on your desk all the time, Loki,” she said. “Don’t be a hypocrite.”

“The difference, mortal, is that this is  _ my  _ desk.”

“You’re just jealous.”

Loki stared at her, wondering if he’d misheard. “Beg pardon?”

“You always do this. You get always get grouchy when I fangirl over someone else. Don’t pretend you don’t.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“Sure you don’t,” Eliza said, a look in her eyes that Loki would’ve been inclined to describe as  _ smug.  _ “Don’t worry, though; I still think you’re super impressive.”

“Why are you even here?” he asked her, telling himself that he certainly didn’t care whether or not she found him impressive. “Shouldn’t you be training?”

“I’ve been banned. Thought you knew.” Her smile became slightly apologetic. “Apparently I need supervision.”

“Norns,” Loki groaned. “What was it this time?”

“Nothing too bad,” she said. “You wanna supervise me, Loki?”

_ Do I?  _ he wondered. Watching her in the training room always stirred strange feelings in him, feelings that he’d really rather avoid. The determined frown she got when she struck at a target, the way her thin leggings clung to her shapely thighs…

“Loki?”

“I will,” he said, “but you will owe me a favor.”

Eliza grinned. “Done deal.”

~

Loki had almost dozed off during the meeting. He never cared for the all-hands-on-deck team meetings, really; he much preferred when the majority of the Avengers and the assorted S.H.I.E.L.D. agents they dealt with were away on business. He could handle Banner and Stark, and even Dr. Foster, as infuriating as she could be at times. The others… the others left him feeling drained and testy. 

Stark stopped him on the way out of the door, after all of the others had trickled away. “Got a minute, Reindeer Games?”

“What is it?” 

“I’ve got a… well, a special project for you. You’ve been itching for a chance to get outside, haven’t you?”

_ Of course I have,  _ Loki thought. “I’m listening.”

The door sealed and locked. “Do you remember that program I made? The one you said couldn’t work?”

“I do.”

“Well,” Stark said, “it worked. I found one.”

~

The girl looked solemn when the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents showed up at the small bookshop where she worked, but she did not attempt to run from them, nor did she put up a fight. Loki watched the entire thing as a reflection in one of the windows, a fairly simple spell. Given how utterly mundane she’d seemed, she took their sudden appearance surprisingly well. 

He almost laughed when she very politely, but firmly, asked them to leave, then slammed the door behind them. He saw her fists clench, and there was a flicker of something dark in her eyes before she squeezed them closed, sinking down to the floor. Loki had to admit that his curiosity was piqued.  _ Temper, temper.  _

Back in his own body, he made another call to Stark, impatiently demanding to know what he was supposed to  _ do. _ Espionage was all well and good, but Loki craved action. If Stark had needed a simple spy, he should’ve asked Agent Romanoff for a favor, instead. 

“S.H.I.E.L.D. did not take her,” he said without preamble. “What is the plan, then?”

“Good. That means they actually listened, for once. You’re going to be the one to bring her here, Loki. We’re going to keep her in the Tower, run some tests. Bring her into the fold. Really, I’m doing Fury a favor; they don’t have the resources for a project like this, unless they want to hire you. I’m pretty sure Fury would rather do anything than put you on his payroll.”

“So nice to know that my skill set is appreciated. What am I to do if she refuses to come with me?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be charming, or something? Convince her. _ Nicely. _ Please don’t make me an accessory to kidnapping.”

“I’m very charming.”

“Great,” Stark said, his voice filled to the brim with insincere enthusiasm. “It shouldn’t be any trouble, then. Give me a heads-up when you’re close, and I’ll roll out the welcome wagon. And Loki? Remember, no magic—”

“I remember.”

~

Loki sat stiffly on the corner of the small couch in Miss Eliza Williams’s apartment, waiting for her to change into fresh clothes. Their latest training session had gone… better than expected. Better, yet worse, somehow, for Loki found himself feeling a little less professional that he probably ought to be. She was brash and reckless, and as much as it frustrated him, he’d also begun to find it strangely endearing. And then there was the way that she’d reacted thoughtlessly and slapped him when he used a duplicate to sneak up behind her… his cheek still stung.

He’d certainly never admit that it sent several very unprofessional imaginings flashing across his mind. Women with such a fighting spirit had always been his weakness, particularly when they came in such a delicate, alluring package.

She came out into her living room with her hair still lightly damp, a faint floral scent wafting from the steam of her shower. “I think I’m getting better,” she declared. “Don’t you? Probably gonna get in trouble for that hole in the wall, though.”

“Never fear,” Loki replied. “I’m sure I’ll take the blame for that. Besides, all of them have accrued their fair share of rubble over the years. You might as well consider it part of the process.”

“I guess.” There was a pause, and she sat on the armchair opposite him. “Hey, do you think the others… like me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve been here for almost three months now, and no one really talks to me, aside from you. And I know you only talk to me because it’s your job.”

“That isn’t necessarily—”

“Please don’t lie to me, Loki.” Frowning, Eliza shoved her hands into the pocket of her oversized sweatshirt. “Are they afraid of me?” she asked, her voice more subdued.

Loki hesitated. Should he lie? Likely so, but she was perceptive. He doubted that he’d be able to convince her, even if he tried. “Yes.”

“But they brought me here! I didn’t… It isn’t like I wanted to come. It isn’t like I wanted any of this. If they don’t feel comfortable with me, then why not send me away? Why not hand me over to S.H.I.E.L.D.? I’m sure they’d love to have me.” 

There were tears in her eyes, and Loki’s chest constricted. “Stark and I both feel that you are most secure here,” he replied, “with us. As for the others… they have all seen things that make them wary. In time, they will grow to trust you.”

_ I cannot believe that I am defending the Avengers, _ he thought.  _ How times change. _

“I just want to be normal,” she told him. “Have you ever wished that you were just a normal person?”

“No,” Loki said, “I haven’t.”

~

“Why did you bring her here, Tony?” Rogers asked. “And why in God’s name would you assign Loki to babysit her? This is practically right out of his playbook—”

“Loki can handle her if anything goes sideways,” Stark replied, “and I know you aren’t about to tell me to just roll over and trust S.H.I.E.L.D., not after everything we’ve seen. They don’t need to go poking around with that kind of firepower.”

“And he does?”

“Haven’t you heard, Captain?” Loki asked, a smile on his face. “I’ve reformed.”

“Then this is the same as putting temptation right in front of a recovering addict,” Rogers retorted. “The Infinity Stones—”

“Whatever shards of power linger inside of her,” Loki interrupted, “they are almost entirely dormant. I can’t even begin to imagine what I’d have to do to her to get them out.”

“That doesn’t reassure me at all.”

“It wasn’t meant to.”

Stark banged his mug against the countertop. “Focus, kids,” he said. “Little Miss Tesseract needs to be kept under constant watch, can we all agree on that? She’s been hopping from city to city for nearly five years now; if she doesn’t feel safe here, she’ll try to run again, and  _ maybe _ to someone less friendly.”

“I’m not trying to say that we should toss the kid to the wolves,” Rogers said. “I’m saying that Loki has a history with the Infinity Stones that might make him a poor choice for this job.”

Stark shrugged. “He’s the only one of us that can handle them. He knows how they work better than anyone else alive. They can commiserate.”

“Yes,” Loki said. “So you see, I am a very qualified  _ babysitter,  _ as you put it.”

“How is she, from what you’ve seen?”

“Not particularly threatening, as of yet. Abnormal strength for a human and heightened reflexes, but she entirely lacks the coordination needed to make either quality useful. She’s apologetic when I do allow her to land a blow, and she seems baffled by the idea of spellwork. When _ I _ landed a blow, she went flying, but remained uninjured. It seemed to surprise her.”

Rogers seemed to have resigned himself to the situation, and he looked thoughtful. “It’s been five years, and she has no idea how to use these powers?”

“That’s assuming they showed up right after the final snap. It could’ve been more recent, considering we didn’t manage to find her until now, even though I’ve been actively looking.”

“And S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t find her until now because…?”

“Because they’re always five steps behind me,” Stark replied. “Do you even have to ask? If they really thought that the kid was going to go nuclear and blow up the city, though, they’ve had plenty of time to convince me that keeping her here is a mistake, and they haven’t.”

“How sure are you that she isn’t going to blow up the city, Loki?” Rogers asked. He looked tired; none of the mortals had really been the same since Thanos, from what Loki could tell. 

“Relatively certain. If it helps, Captain, I’ll likely be the closest to her if she does suddenly combust, and therefore the most likely to perish.”

Rogers let out a surprised little huff of a laugh. “I guess that’s as good a guarantee as we’re going to get, huh?”

“So it is.”

“I really hope the two of you know what you’re doing.”

“Yeah,” Stark said, “so do we.”

~

Loki carefully applied a bandage to the bridge of Eliza’s nose, wincing in sympathy. “You should not have challenged my brother,” he told her. “I told you that you weren’t ready.”

“I’m tired of everyone pulling punches,” she replied, her jaw stubbornly set. “What’s the point of all of this training, if no one will really  _ fight  _ me?”

“He should’ve held back. You’re lucky your nose isn’t broken.”

“I told him not to hold back. I wanted to see how much I could take.” She smiled up at him. “I can take a  _ lot.” _

“Yes, yes, you’re very impressive,” Loki said dismissively, but her smile was captivating, and his hand lingered on her cheek. “You are going to have a black eye, unless you’d like for me to heal it.”

“I thought you guys were collecting data on how quickly I heal naturally. Wouldn’t that mess up the results?”

“Yes, but I will still do it, if you’d like.”

Did she lean slightly into his touch, or was he only imagining it?

“Leave it until after dinner,” Eliza said. “I want to look tough. Maybe I’ll finally impress Natasha.”

“Why do you care about impressing her? There’s far more power in your veins, more than any of them possess.” 

He should really lower his hand, he reflected, but he chose to leave it right where it was. Her skin was warm and soft, and she didn’t seem to mind. 

“But if I can’t use it, I’m useless. Right? Liability numero uno.” Her lip twitched. “I’ve heard gossip around the water cooler that you’re probably going to try to drain that power from my veins, like some sort of magical vampire. What do you think of that?”

Loki lowered his hand. Unfortunately, he only lowered it to her neck, which he was certain he found every bit as surprising as she did. She drew a shaky breath, and Loki’s mouth went dry. “What do  _ you _ think of it?”

“I asked first.”

“If I were a vampire,” he said, “then I believe I’d have to become very closely acquainted with your neck. Isn’t that so?” His thumb smoothed down the hollow of her throat. 

“That’s usually how it works.”

“I think that I should like to be one, then.”

Eliza blinked; it would’ve been almost comical, had Loki not felt quite so frazzled and unsure of himself. She still had not moved away from him, and if anything, they were closer than ever before. Even with all of her scrapes and bruises, he thought that she might very well be the loveliest thing he’d ever seen, so fiery and full of life.

“I should not kiss you,” he told her. “That likely breaks a rule or two.”

“Probably,” she whispered, her gaze flickering to his lips.

Loki kissed her.

~

Sirens blared throughout the halls of the Tower, people racing to and fro in a mad scramble to flee or to take up their positions for the impending assault. Loki nearly crashed directly into Stark as he headed for the elevators that would take him down to their living quarters.

“Where is she?” Stark demanded, grabbing his sleeve. “Whoever they are, I can almost guarantee they’re after her.”

“I am on my way to find her,” Loki replied. “What do your readings say? The others—”

“My readings say nothing, and no one on the team has gotten through for at least ten minutes now. Everything’s been scrambled.” He donned his armor, a flurry of red and gold. “Guess I have to go out there and see for myself.”

“Is that wise?”

“Probably not.” Stark’s visor closed. “So maybe join me when you can, yeah? I’m assuming extra firepower will be useful.”

Loki nodded, then rushed to the stairwell; he could make the jump from their level faster than the elevator could travel, and he was in no mood to waste any time. The anxiety that he felt was troublesome; typically, the anticipation of battle was a heady, exciting sort of thing, and Loki had been in more battles than he could count over the years. He was immortal, nearly invincible, and the worst of his enemies were long dead.

And yet, fear filled his heart as he raced towards the suite of rooms that contained Eliza, the not-quite human that he’d made the mistake of caring for far too deeply. She was more impervious to damage than the average mortal, true, but that did not change the fact that she  _ was _ mortal. He’d seen her bruised and battered from training, and that had been difficult enough for him to stomach.

If the invaders were truly after her, if they meant to extract the power of the Tesseract from her… he was certain that she’d be tortured, or worse. He couldn’t -  _ wouldn’t _ \- allow it.

Loki nearly broke her door down in his haste, unwilling to wait for her to come to answer it. Eliza wrapped her arms around him when he burst into her room, her relief evident. “I was so worried,” she said. “What’s happening?”

“There is some sort of invasion from another realm,” he said, “but the details are uncertain. They are using a portal not far from the Tower… not dissimilar from the one that I used to bring my armies into New York. It is small, and the Avengers have been able to stem the tide, but we are certain that their target is here.”

She searched his face. “Their target is me,” she said, her voice soft. “Isn’t it?”

He cupped her face in his hands. “We won’t allow anything to happen to you,” he fervently assured her.  _ “I  _ won’t allow anything to happen to you. You’ll be perfectly safe here.”

“But what about you? What about the others? I’ve been training to fight; let me fight.”

Loki was taken aback, and her determination only served to worry him more, because he was nearly certain that he’d have to lock her up to keep her from following him into the fray. She wasn’t ready for battle; this, he knew for certain. Her power was too unstable, her technique still imperfect. She’d get herself killed, and he’d never forgive himself.

“You are to remain here,” he told her. “This isn’t the time for you to be practicing at combat. You’ll be a liability.”

“I’ve got more power than anyone else out there!”

_ “Untested _ power, Eliza.”

She took his hands in her own. “I need to know that you’re safe, Loki. What if you need me?”

“Of course I’ll be safe. I’m invincible, remember?”

“But—”

Loki squeezed her fingers. “Have you ever beaten me at combat?” 

“No…”

“There.” He smiled, hoping to reassure her. The power trapped inside of her was excited, oozing through her aura like a living thing, eager at the prospect of being unleashed. “Don’t worry about me, Eliza. There is nothing out there that can end Loki Laufeyson.”

He turned to leave; the alarms still blared, and his keen ears could pick up the sounds of explosions and shattering glass not far from the Tower. Time was not on his side. Eliza caught his wrist and pulled him back. 

“I didn’t mean it,” she told him, tears in her eyes. “Everything I said… about you, about the Tesseract. I didn’t  _ mean _ it, and I wish—”

“We’ll discuss it later,” he assured her, because to have such a conversation now, to rehash old arguments and take back regrettable words, seemed altogether too similar to admitting that the danger they faced was real. “For what it’s worth… I cannot bring myself to regret a single moment that I’ve spent with you.”

He pressed his lips to her forehead in a gentle kiss farewell, and then he was gone, sealing the door shut behind him. She would likely be furious with him for that, he knew, but he couldn’t trust her to keep herself somewhere safe. She was too impulsive, too reckless. 

It was one of the things that he loved about her. 

~

Loki sat across from Miss Williams at a table in one of the smaller conference rooms, trying to suppress some of his irritation. Her entire face was screwed up in concentration as she glared at the water in the cup that sat on the polished wood in between them. 

“Are you even trying?” he asked, admittedly snide. It was pathetic; she’d yet to produce even a single ripple, and she’d been glaring at the damned thing for nearly fifteen minutes.

The mortal’s cheeks immediately colored. “I told you I don’t know how to  _ do _ this,” she cried.  _ “You’re _ the one who told me to make it move. I’m not a witch.”

“I am astounded by the fact that you haven’t even tried to hone your powers these past five years. How is such a thing even possible?”

She shoved the cup away. “It’s possible because I don’t  _ want  _ them,” she said. “It’s possible because they’re terrifying, and I just want to be a normal person who doesn’t accidentally rip through space-time when I’m out for a walk. It’s possible because I’ve been trying to keep a low profile, since ‘specimens’ like me are apparently pretty hot collectibles—”

“You aren’t normal,” Loki interrupted. “You are a danger to yourself and others. No, it isn’t fair that the Norns decided to endow  _ you _ with such godly, ancient powers, but life isn’t fair, is it? You have them, and if you do not learn to harness them properly, the consequences could be disastrous.”

There was a mulish gleam in her eye. “I was doing fine on my own, before I agreed to come here with you.”

“If you hadn’t come with me,” he said, “you know very well that you’d be sitting underground in some government facility right now. You didn’t think you’d evade notice forever, did you? That wasn’t very clever of you, Miss Williams.”

“I never said I was clever. I never claimed to be anything that I’m not. I’m just me. This stuff inside of me… that isn’t  _ me.” _

Loki could feel it then, the tiniest flicker of power peeking through the cracks, likely drawn out by her temper and his proximity. The Tesseract always had been fond of him, after all, and he supposed that whatever shards of the cosmic entity that comprised the Space Stone within it still recognized the brush of his power, even after all that had happened.

Some part of him longed to poke and prod at her, to draw that power out, but he’d promised to behave, hadn’t he? It would likely kill her, and even he was hesitant to face the full force of an unleashed, newly-awakened Infinity Stone. 

“But it is a part of you now,” he said, his voice a bit more gentle. “You might as well embrace it, mortal. Consider yourself fortunate - you’ve been bestowed with power that most could only dream of, the kind of power that could bring entire worlds to their knees.”

The girl was silent for a moment, and when she spoke again, there was a tremor in her voice. “Have they found out yet if it’s going to kill me?” she asked. “I’ve heard them talking about how it’s too much energy for a human body to handle, but no one will tell me straight to my face.” 

She took a deep breath, then met his eyes. “When it first hit me,” she said, “all those years ago, I was unconscious for seven days.  _ Seven. _ I woke up over fifty miles away from the last place I remembered, hungrier than I’ve ever been in my life, covered in sweat. It felt like a fever dream. I panicked, accidentally tore open a portal and fell through when I tried to run to find help. Blacked out and woke up in New Mexico. I didn’t realize what was happening, then.”

“The fever got stronger, and so did the hunger. I was sure I was dying. A car almost hit me in New Mexico, and I opened my eyes in a forest in Washington state. And then… and then it just  _ stopped, _ like it knew that it was about to kill me. When I made it to an ER, they said I was fine. Just a fever and dehydration. Can you believe that? Perfect health, they said - better than I’d ever had in my life.” 

Loki leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed, appraising her anew. So, she  _ did _ realize how strange her continued survival was, then. He wondered how she’d managed to slip through so many messy, accidental rips in space with no one the wiser, but he supposed that the days after Thanos’s defeat had been chaotic and challenging enough that no one had been looking. Perhaps any blips on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar had been attributed to aftereffects from the destruction of the Gauntlet.

“And your glasses?” he asked. 

Miss WIlliams laughed. “Fake. I’ve worn them all my life; I’ve been incredibly nearsighted since second grade. I’m used to having them on my face.”

“You are afraid of your power.”

“Of course I am.”

“You need an outlet,” Loki said. “Burying it won’t work forever. I’m not suggesting that you should start warping the fabric of space with it, simply that you should learn to release it in small, carefully-controlled bursts. It will help.”

“I can’t do it,” she said. “I can’t.”

“You can,” he replied. “You  _ will. _ I will help you.”

~

When Loki woke, he was momentarily disappointed to discover that Eliza Williams had already escaped the warmth of his bed. HIs disappointment was assuaged, however, when he heard the faint sounds of her scuffling about in his kitchen. Crossing his arms behind his head, Loki sighed in satisfaction, taking a moment to bask in the afterglow of what had quite possibly been the most passionate night of his entire life.

For months, he’d tried to deny the very fact that he’d ever been impulsive enough to kiss her. It had been excruciating, made worse by their increasingly heated encounters in the training room, the way her powers seemed to spark and flare whenever his skin brushed against her own. When he’d pinned her to the ground last night, when she’d grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled him closer…

He was tired. He wasn’t able to remember any woman who’d managed to truly tire him before, either in battle or in bed. Laughing, he rolled out of bed, wrapping a sheet around his waist. He wasn’t entirely certain where his clothes had ended up during the night, and he was in no particular hurry to find them.

She was already curled up on his couch when he emerged from the bedroom, a mug of tea in her hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, endearingly bashful. “Did I wake you up? I thought I was being quiet.”

“I missed you in bed,” Loki replied. “Thought that you could escape my clutches, did you?”

Eliza smiled. “I just thought… I’ve never done anything like that before, Loki. I thought maybe you wouldn’t be happy if you woke up and I was still here, but then I  _ also _ didn’t want to seem like I’d freaked out and run away in the middle of the night—”

“I am glad that you are still here,” he said. “You are feeling… well?”

_ Now you sound like the bashful one, Loki,  _ his inner voice chided.

“Mhmm. Just a little, y’know… sore.” She couldn’t seem to stand to meet his gaze for any longer. “I, um, I appreciate how patient you were. I wasn’t expecting the first time to be that… well, that  _ good.” _

He took a seat on the couch beside her. “And the subsequent times?” he teased. “Were they also acceptable?”

Her face scrunched. “Do they actually count as separate times, or does the whole night count as one? I’ve literally never considered this before.”

Laughing, Loki wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pleased when she leaned into the embrace. “I suppose that’s up to you,” he said. “Either way, I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself. Will you stay?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’d like for you to stay,” Loki said. “Right here, on my couch, sipping your tea. Later, perhaps we can go out for lunch, if you’d like?”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to leave without an armed escort.”

He winked. “I will be your escort, and I am always armed.”

“Even now?” Eliza asked, giving him an incredulous once-over. “You’re practically naked.”

Loki twisted his fingers, pulling a dagger from one of his space-pockets. Her eyes went wide, and he felt the power within her bubble in excitement.  _ Right, _ he thought.  _ No magic.  _ It was a rule easily forgotten, particularly so close to the alluring buzz of energy that flowed through her veins. “I am  _ always _ armed,” he repeated.

“You tore space,” she said. “Just a tiny little tear. I could  _ feel _ it.”

“I did.”

“Can you show me how?”

“I can. You aren’t ready yet, but you will be, in time. There are untold possibilities for the use of space-manipulation in combat, and this is only one of them. By the time I’m finished with you, Eliza, you’ll be fearsome indeed.”

She nodded thoughtfully, swirling her tea. “I think I want that,” she said. “I’m tired of being afraid all the time, tired of running. I want to be able to look after myself.” Her eyes darted to him for a moment, then returned to her mug. “To look after people I care about.”

“So  _ sentimental,” _ Loki said, but his heart was lighter than it had been in an age. She cared for him, did she? He couldn’t help but feel pleased at the revelation, no matter how vague it had been. “Feeling protective, mortal?”

“Yeah,” Eliza said, snuggling closer against his side. “I guess I am.”

~

Loki sat at the end of the long conference table, the heavy weight of the suspicious eyes of the Avengers settling over him. “It’s very evident that none of you trust me,” he said, “so why should I believe that this offer is genuine?”

Stark looked around the table, but no one else seemed particularly eager to speak. “You helped save the world,” he said. “You brought half of us back from the dead. Believe it or not, Blitzen, that counts for something. Trust takes time… but that doesn’t mean we don’t want you on the team.”

“I will vouch for him a thousand times over,” Thor declared. “Loki has evaded Death herself to set our reality to rights. If that is not enough—”

“We’re grateful for what you’ve done, Loki,” Agent Romanoff said. “Some of us are just curious what you’ll do with this new-found freedom. No more Thanos, no one to challenge your use of any Infinity Stones you might accidentally stumble across…”

Loki scoffed. “The Infinity Stones are gone,” he said. “Destroyed without a trace.”

“Do you really believe that?” Stark asked. “I don’t.”

They had him intrigued, Loki had to admit. He leaned back in his seat, steepling his fingers. “You have my attention.”

“Stay here,” Stark said. “Work with us. I’ll put you on the payroll, give you a place to settle down for a while; I’ll even keep S.H.I.E.L.D. off your back, since they probably won’t be quite as excited about the idea of having you on Earth as the rest of us. I’ve got enough projects to keep you entertained, and  _ if _ anything even vaguely similar to an Infinity Stone shows up again, you’ll be one of the first to know.”

“Can I just say one more time, for the record, that I’m completely against the idea of us pointing Loki in the direction of huge cosmic power sources?” Rogers said. “Sure, let’s have him on the team. That’s fine and dandy. But… does anyone here remember what he was like when he had two of the Stones? Clint? Care to chime in?”

Barton nodded. “I’m with Steve, and I’ll take it a step farther; I think we’d be better off hoping and praying that they  _ are _ gone. Those things had minds of their own.  _ None _ of us should be getting anywhere near them, even if they do somehow still exist.”

“We’re better off operating under the assumption that they’re gone,” Romanoff said. “We need to move forward. Loki, are you in, or are you out?”

“What happens if I choose the latter option?” His smile was thin. “Imprisonment?”

“You’ll return to Asgard with me,” Thor said. “Father cannot deny you your place as prince, not after the sacrifices you’ve made for our people and for all of the Nine Realms.”

Loki sighed. “Earth it is, then.”

~

She was always beautiful, Loki thought, but there was something truly exceptional about the little expressions she made when she moved atop him, her lips parted and her eyes fluttering closed with every punctuated thrust. He gripped her hips more tightly, begging her for a kiss, which Eliza graciously bestowed. 

Loki was  _ happy. _ It was strange and unexpected, and so his happiness was tinged with worry, but it was happiness, nonetheless. There was something in her smile that made him look forward to each new morning, something in her laugh that made him feel as if he’d finally found his place in the world.

He held her in his arms, listening to her soft breathing as she slept. They would be utterly unstoppable, the two of them. Once Eliza had a better grasp of her powers, there would be nowhere that they could not travel, no world off-limits to them. She was already strong, and he imagined she’d only grow stronger with time. He’d take her to worlds she’d never even dreamed of, anything to keep that brilliant light in her eyes.

She twitched in her sleep, and Loki stroked her hair, whispering soothing words in the darkness. Even he could not keep the nightmares bestowed by the Tesseract away entirely, though he hoped that he helped to lessen them. It was something else that they both shared, these dreams of cold, blindingly-bright power and temptation. He wondered sometimes if its voice sounded the same in her mind as it did in his, but he’d never worked up the courage to ask her.

~

Loki sat cross-legged opposite of Eliza at the coffee table in his apartment, both of them staring, once again, at a very innocuous-looking cup of water. “Are you concentrating?” he asked. 

“I’m trying.”

“Remember, just a small, gentle pull. A single ripple.”

“I remember, Loki. Give me a second.”

Another few minutes ticked by, and Loki could see every emotion plainly on her face; there was disappointment, then more determination, then anger when the cup remained undisturbed. She slammed her hand against the table in frustration, and there was a crash as the cup shattered on the floor directly beneath it.

Eliza stared at him, shocked and guilty. “Did I do that?”

Loki sighed. He’d forgotten how  _ messy _ magic-lessons could be. “You temporarily removed my coffee table from this plane of existence,” he said, standing to retrieve a towel from the kitchen. “Not what I’d hoped for… but impressive, regardless.”

She looked at her hands, a mixture of fear and wonderment in her eyes. “I think being angry helps.”

“Strong emotions do help to release power,” Loki replied, “but as you’ve just seen, they also make the results less predictable. You cannot allow your temper to disrupt your focus, not if you’d like to achieve any sort of mastery.”

“It’s hard not to be angry when things aren’t working, though,” she said, helping him to clean up the mess of shattered glass and water. “Is it supposed to be this hard?”

“Did you think that harnessing world-ending power would be easy?” he asked, amused. “Of course it’s difficult. It is even more difficult because you’ve spent so many years attempting to wall away this part of you, to deny its existence. It will take time for it to feel natural, to lessen the resistance.”

“I’m sorry I broke your cup. I’ll get you a new one.”

“Not necessary. I’m simply thankful that you didn’t make the floor disappear from beneath us. That would’ve been quite the shock for whoever’s occupying the rooms below.”

Eliza laughed. “That would’ve been pretty great, actually. Can you imagine the looks on everyone’s faces? I guess I’d probably get in trouble, though.”

“I would be the one in trouble,” Loki said. “I’m the one tasked with keeping you from causing any significant property damage, after all. A bashful smile and a tear or two, and no one would say another word to you about it.”

“I think you’re exaggerating.”

“I’m not.” Loki dumped the shards of glass into the trash, then turned to her. “Play to your strengths, Eliza. You seem delicate and unassuming; if people are inclined to underestimate you, let them. It increases your advantage.”

“Is that a Loki life lesson? You should write a book.”

He snorted. “I have. I’ve written several, and they aren’t in any language you could read.”

“Really?” She seemed more impressed by that than he’d expected. “Teach me. I’m good with languages. Probably better than I am with magic, at least.”

“I suppose I could.”

She beamed up at him, and he reminded himself that the kiss had been a mistake, that it had come out of some sort of urge to protect and comfort her, that he should not indulge in such reckless impulses again…

“Loki?” she said. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” he replied brusquely. “Nothing at all.”

~

“What’s  _ wrong _ with you, Eliza?” Loki demanded, his hands curled into fists by his sides. “You could’ve been killed, sneaking away to experiment with your powers this way—”

“Don’t pretend you would care,” she cried. Her eyes welled with tears, and the shattered mirrors littering the floor around them began to stir. “I  _ heard _ what you said to Thor. I’m just an _ asset,  _ right? You’d never have real feelings for a normal human. That’s the real reason you won’t let Odin lock me away in Asgard, isn’t it? You want the Tesseract for yourself.”

“I don’t want you locked away anywhere,” Loki began, but a few more shards of glass rained down, and he held up his hands in surrender. “Eliza, you need to calm yourself.”

“You want me locked up here, with you,” she said, the blue in her eyes brightening. “You want my power - don’t  _ lie _ to me, Loki!”

His eyes narrowed. “What has it been telling you?”

She seemed to suddenly deflate, her shoulders slumping. “It doesn’t matter. I thought you… I thought you liked me for  _ me. _ You just want to be close to me because of  _ it.”  _ As the fight faded from her, despondency took its place. “You said that it was  _ regrettable _ that I’m a human. You said that forming emotional bonds was a good way to keep me in check. I heard you say that, Loki. Don’t deny it.”

“You’re taking that out of context.”

Eliza wiped the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve, looking painfully small and defeated. Loki felt the urge to rush forward to comfort her, but he doubted that such a gesture would be welcomed. “I don’t want to listen to you,” she said. “I feel like an idiot for falling for you so easily.”

“Eliza—”

“I’m going back to my place,” she said. She wouldn’t look him in the eye. “I’ll let Tony know about the mess. I’ll make sure he knows that it wasn’t your fault.”

He did not stop her.

~

The streets of the city reeked of smoke and sulfur, and Loki grimaced as he crushed the skull of yet another Hel-beast, a snarling, frothing thing that looked more wolf than man. Not far away, the others tried to fight to reach his sister - a sister who’d apparently grown tired of her dominion over Hel and decided to move on to bigger and better things. 

The onslaught was relentless, and for every demon and monster they destroyed, three more seemed to appear through the pitch-black portal that had yawned open in the now-bubbling asphalt. Loki was battered and bruised; the fire-demons, in particular, were causing him a great deal of trouble, and a blow that one had landed to his torso seemed to have cracked a few ribs.

He ducked behind an overturned automobile and bellowed for Thor, but Thor was far too busy battling his way through his own pack of fire-demons to respond, and Loki felt his earlier panic begin to return. An army of undead monsters was bad enough, but if Hela was truly after the power of the Tesseract, then she didn’t need her army to win; she only needed them to cause enough chaos and destruction for her to get her hands on Eliza. 

The concrete beneath him cracked and split, sending his shelter flying, and Loki spun on his heel to find Hela bearing down on him, delight in her eyes. “Did you miss me, baby brother?” she asked, her lips spreading in a thin smile. “Helheim has been feeling crowded. I’ve decided to expand.”

He blocked the first flurry of blades, and then the next, but she was every bit as quick with her magic as he was, and he could not land a blow. 

“No need to worry,” she continued. “I’ve already reserved a very special corner of my dungeon just for  _ family.”  _ She lunged at him, and Loki leapt backwards, leaving a clone to land in his place as he attempted to run to help Thor. 

A knife struck him in the back of the calf, and Loki cursed and rolled to his side. He could see a red blur in the distance as Stark streaked through the sky, trying to fell some of the large, bat-like creatures that had crawled through the portal and begun attacking the surrounding buildings. 

“You should never turn your back on a queen, little brother,” Hela told him. “If Odin had raised you properly, you’d know that.”

He staggered to his feet. The pain could wait. He’d experienced much worse, and he told himself that it was merely an inconvenience, nothing more. “The Space Stone has attached itself to a human,” he said. “It isn’t stable, and you’ll blow us to shreds if you try to use it.”

Hela laughed. “That’s no real loss for me, is it? I have no reason to fear Death. I  _ am _ Death.” She pointed her sword at his chest. “You, on the other hand…”

Loki felt the tear in space just as he braced himself to deflect the incoming blades, and the breath was knocked from his lungs as something collided with his chest, throwing him backwards. He opened his eyes to find himself only a block away from Stark Tower. It hadn’t been a gentle trip, and Loki’s stomach churned. “Eliza,” he groaned, pushing himself to his feet. “Don’t.”

Her eyes were a blazing, bright blue. “I’m not going to sit around and let you and everyone else die for me, Loki. If you all get killed, then they’re going to get me, anyway. I might as well face it here and now, with you.”

Thor crash-landed in a pile of rubble beside them, a little slower than usual to spring back to his feet. “I thought that we were done with her,” he said. “I thought that Helheim had been made inescapable.”

“She cannot travel far,” Loki said, clutching his side. “That is why she needs the power of the Tesseract; she has no use for Midgard. It is only a stepping-stone.”

“How do we get rid of her?”

“Threats won’t do any good; she’s perfectly happy to end the world.”

Thor groaned. “How many times must we endure the end of the world?”

“At least once more. But to be perfectly frank, Brother, I’m not entirely sure how many near-escapes from death I have left in me,” Loki said. He staggered forward, the fear in his veins cold and bitter. Even if Hela didn’t kill them all, the untamed, eager power of the Tesseract might very well finish the job. “Eliza, you need to stay calm.”

The energy surrounding her was blinding -  _ intoxicating.  _ She both was and was not standing there before him, the power of the Stone tugging the fabric of space around her towards an infinite number of alternate possibilities… it was too much. He was surprised she was still standing.

“Elizabeth,” Thor said, hesitantly raising his hands, as if he feared that she might lash out against them, “listen to Loki. I know that you want to help us, but that kind of power could kill you - it could kill us all.”

She stared at her hands, which had begun to glow just as brightly as her eyes. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I can’t turn it off.”

A helhound crashed around the corner, throwing crushed cars and debris aside, Hela perched atop his back. “There she is,” she crooned, “my key to conquest.”

The blade from his wretched sister’s hand flew towards his heart, almost in some sort of cruel slow-motion; Loki was too badly injured to react in time, and they both knew it. So, too, did Eliza, who screamed at the top of her lungs, the blazing blue of her power engulfing her, engulfing them, engulfing everything.

~

“Where is she?”

Loki squinted, trying to make out the agents on the other side of the glass. The fluorescent lights were blinding, and his head still throbbed. He ignored their question. “My brother?” he asked, his voice raw. “Stark?”

“Alive,” another voice replied. “Barely. Your little friend is gone, after managing to cause even more damage than you did with your alien army.”

His chest felt hollow. “She isn’t gone,” Loki said. If she was gone, he would know. He would  _ feel _ it. Wouldn’t he? “Hela, the army of the dead—”

“Also gone,” the second voice said. “Gone without a trace. No bodies, just a lot of fire and rubble. There’s no proof that they were ever there at all. We detected the power flare, and when we came… we found this. _ You.  _ Funny, isn’t it?”

“Are you mad?” Loki cried. “Eliza saved us. Your entire world would be consumed by Hel if not for her, and for you to suggest—”

“The Tesseract is gone. That wasn’t part of the deal, Loki. We think you know where it is.”

“I don’t care about it,” he hissed, shoving the table aside as he strode toward the window, ignoring the pain in his leg. “I care about  _ her.” _

~

“This… fascination you have with Miss Williams isn’t healthy, Loki,” Thor said. 

“She’s the most valuable asset we have, and I am the only person here with the capabilities to handle her powers. What would you prefer, that Odin lock her up in his vaults with the rest of his dangerous treasures? That S.H.I.E.L.D. experiment on her? You know that mortals have no business playing with these things.”

“You’re too invested in testing the limits of her powers. We should be finding a way to extract this power from her; a human body shouldn’t be able to handle an Infinity Stone for any extended period of time.”

“It is regrettable that she’s human,” Loki replied, “but she has adapted in remarkable ways. It’s almost as if the Tesseract has decided to shape her into an acceptable host.”

“That’s even more disturbing.”

“No, it’s all for the best. She has all of her human sentimentality. These emotional bonds she’s forming will help to keep her here, where she can be observed. The last thing we need is for an unstable metahuman of her strength to go fleeing across the country. Stark and I have discussed this. She’s better off here.”

“Loki—”

“With me,” he said firmly, ending any further discussion on the subject. “She belongs with me.”

~

Loki leaned over the bed, adding another blanket. The mountainside cottage was cold, even with the fire crackling in the hearth, and he didn’t want to risk Eliza catching a chill. She was already in a fragile state. She hadn’t opened her eyes since he’d found her, but her pulse and her breathing had steadied, and some of the color had returned to her skin.

He’d wept when he’d finally found her, floating aimlessly through the void of space. It had taken weeks, and everyone had told him that it was hopeless. Officially, he’d been sent back to Asgard for his house-arrest after refusing to cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D., but his brother and Stark had secretly been aiding in his search from afar. 

He’d taken her directly to Asgard, knowing that he couldn’t take her back to Earth, not while she was so vulnerable. He couldn’t take her to the palace, either; his father would keep her isolated, likely in stasis. Until she was fit to travel, her survival would have to remain a precious secret.

Loki wept again when she finally opened her eyes. He held her close and cried and comforted her when she began to panic, reassuring her that she would recover, that her voice and her strength would return, that she was safe, that her world was safe, that he loved her.

Her voice returned a day later, raspy and tremulous. “Loki?” she whispered. “What happened?”

He kissed her hand. “You sent the entire invasion back to Hel, quite literally,” he said, unable to hide how impressed he was by such a feat. “You entirely ripped apart the passage through space that allowed Hela to reach Midgard in the first place, and you released so much energy that you threw yourself through a tear in space and into the Void. I found you there.”

Eliza seemed dazed. “How long?”

“A few weeks,” he said. “I never stopped looking.”

Loki helped her to sip some water, and she squeezed his hand in thanks. “Are you mad at me?”

“Yes. I feared I’d lost you, Eliza. I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t have been able to endure it.”

The corner of her lip quirked. “I saved you, though.”

“You did,” Loki agreed. “That is why I am also very proud of you.”

Speaking seemed to exhaust her, and Loki fed her and carefully washed her face while she watched him, her eyes solemn. “I’d do it again,” she eventually said. “For you. I’d do anything.”

“I know,” he said. “I would’ve done the same.”

“What happens now?”

“Well,” Loki said, “that’s entirely up to you, Eliza. I fully intend to dote upon you until you’re well, and if you’d like to leave after that—”

“I don’t,” she interrupted. “I don’t want to leave.”

He felt like he could suddenly breathe again. “You are welcome to stay, then. I know that you haven’t seen any of it yet, but this cottage is actually very spacious. We could spend some time living a life of obscurity, a humble landowner and his wife. Though, I suppose you’d have to marry me.”

Eliza smiled. “Is that so?”

“I’m afraid it is.” 

“You think you can handle being married to me, Loki?”

“Of course I can.”

Some of the sparkle had begun to return to her eyes, and Loki was delighted to see it. He knew she was strong; she’d recover quickly, he was certain of it. “It sounds like a good ending,” she said. “‘And they both lived happily ever after.’”

“A good beginning,” Loki replied. “This is only the beginning.”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> From the prompt: "I don't know if you're taking prompts/ideas (or whether this is even a good idea lmao) but I love your stories! I see a lot of stories of oc/reader babysitting Loki in Stark Tower, but very few of the reverse. Maybe Loki is having to do the babysitting because of certain factors - maybe oc has a secret (that the readers don't find out straight away), or they have their own 'powers' they can't control?"


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